Floor drain

ABSTRACT

In a conventional floor drain having a bowl, a U-shaped trap and a main drain conduit all fluid connected, a secondary inlet conduit fluid connected to the bowl and at a fluid level higher than that of the main drain conduit.

United States Patent [191 Boudewyn [4 1 Dec. 17,1974

1 1 FLOOR DRAIN [76] Inventor: Robert H. Boudewyn, 5035 SW.

48th Ave., Des Moines, Iowa 50321 22 Filed: Aug. 2, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 277,154

[52] U.S. C1. 4/288, 4/286 [51] Int. C1. E03 l/26 [58] Field of Search 4/286, 288

[56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 877,911 9/1961 Great Britain .1 4/286 9/1962 Austria 4/286 1.192.119 4/1965 Germany 4/286 39,529 7/1965 Germany 4/286 41,404 9/1965 Germany 108,666 3/1966 Norway 4/286 Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby Assistant ExaminerDonald B. Massenberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmHenderson & Strom [57] ABSTRACT In a conventional floor drain having a bow], a U- shaped trap and a main drain conduit all fluid connected, a secondary inlet conduit' fluid connected to the bowl and at a fluid level higher than that of the main drain conduit.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 FLOOR DRAIN ceiving fluid draining off the floor surface, a U-shaped trap fluid connected at one end to the bottom of the bowl, and a main drain conduit which is fluid connected to the other end of the trap for transmitting that which is being drained awayfrom the trap. In contemporary homes, a floor drain of this nature is placed in the concrete floor of a basement, for example, in the home and is usually near an automatic clothes washer and other like appliances which need to drain into the floor drain.

In certain areas of the United States, city and like plumbing codes require that the automatic clothes washer drain line run directly into the floor drain. In order to accomo date this provision of many codes, it is necessary that the strainer plate which is secured to the top surface of the bowl be broken whereby the discharge end of a drain line from the washer or like appliance can be inserted into the floor drain. Needless to say, this is not only an unsatisfactory solution of the problem, but also presents an unsightly floor drain in addition to causing the floor drain strainer plate to lose much of its effectiveness.

If a secondary discharge line is tapped into the main drain conduit, the plumbing codes also require that another U-shaped trap be provided for the secondary drain line. It is the purpose of this invention to provide an improved floor drain to the extent that it is not only unnecessary to break the strainer plate, but it is also unnecessary to have a second trap for a secondary discharge line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a conventional floor drain which has a bowl portion fluid connected to a U-shaped- These objects and other advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the floor drain of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the invention as applied to a slightly different floor drain from that of FIGS. 1-4 inclusive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of this floor drain invention is illustrated generally at 10. The floor drain comprises a'bowl 11 having an opening formed by a circular shoulder 12 (FIG. 4) in its upper edge 15, and which bowl 11 is fluid connected near its bottom 13 with one end 14 of a U-shaped trap 16 the other end 17 of which clothes washer and the like without the necessity of breaking or forcing a hole into the strainer plate of the floor drain. I

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an improved floor drain wherein a secondary inlet line is connected to the floor drain onthe'side of the drain opposite that of the main drain conduit such that the need for an additional trap conduit is obviated.

Yet another object of this invention is to" provide a I floor drain having a secondary inlet connection to the bowl, which connection is offset from a radial of the bowl such as to provide a swirling effect for that which is draining into the bowl to'aid inmoving the fluid to the bottom thereof and into the trap portion.

Still another object of this invention is to'provide a floor drain capable of attaining the objects set forth hereinbefore which is simple, economical, and effec- IIVB.

is fluid connected to a main drain conduit 18. The flared end 19 of the main drain 18 is adapted for connection to additional piping, not shown. A flat, strainer plate 2l is removably secured about the shoulder 12. A connection 22 (FIGS. 1 and 4) is made between the bowl 11 and the main drain l8, and may either be closed, as is shown here, or may beopen, thereby providing a clean out access from the bowl 11 through to themain drain l8, bypassing the trap 16.

The floor drain 10 described thus far is a conventional floor drain which is embedded in the concrete floor of a contemporary home, building or the like such that only the strainer plate 21 and the upper edge 15 is exposed. Fluid from appliances such as an automatic clothes washer,an air conditioner, a basin lavoratory or the like either run off a floor surface into the bowl 11, or the strainer plate 21 is broken away such that a hose from one or more of the appliances can be inserted through the plate 21 and into the bowl for discharge.

To obviate either the aforementioned drainage methods, both of which are far from satisfactory to the home owner, a secondary inlet conduit 26 (FIGS. 1-4 inclusive) is provided. The conduit 26 is straight, is of an inner diameter less than the inner diameter of the main conduit 18, has an exterior end 27 flared for connection to other conduit lines, and enters at its inner end 28-(FIG. 4) the floor drain bowl 11' at a location intermediate the upper ed'ge 1 5 of the bowl and the bottom 13 thereof.

Further, the secondary inlet conduit 26 has a longitudinal axis which enters the bowl 11, as viewed best in FIG. 4, on an axis which is oflset fom any radial of the bowl 11 as viewed in plan. This feature, including a smooth and blending entrance at 29 (FIG. 4) of the inner end 28 integral with and into the bowl inner surface provides a gently swirling effect of the fluid leaving the secondary conduit 26 as it enters the bowl, aiding and making more effective the drainage of the secondary fluid. Should the axis of the secondary inlet con- 3 duit 26 be axial with a radialof the bowl 11, the conduit 26 would still function as intended, but it would cause more of a gushing within the bowl 11 as the fluid theresecondary conduit 26 extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the main drain conduit 18.

Referring to FIG. 5, the secondary inlet conduit 26 has been made integral with the bowl 31 of a floor drain 10 identical to the drain 10 except that the bowl 31 is deeper than the shallower bowl ll of the FIG. 14 embodiment. In all other respects the drain 10' is comparable to the drain 10.

It can therefore be readily appreciated that an improved floor drain has been disclosed which obviates the need particularly for breaking the strainer plate to accomodate a secondary inlet line or conduit, and which conduit does not require an additional trap.

I claim:

1. In a floor drain having a circular bowl portion, a strainer plate covering the bowl portion, a U-shaped trap conduit positioned below the bowl portion and fluidly connected at one end to the bowl portion at the extreme bottom of the bowl portion, and a main drain conduit connected to and leading from the other end of said U-shaped trap conduit, an improvement comprising a secondary inlet conduit connected to the bowl portion intermediate the top and bottom surfaces of the bowl portion, said secondary inlet conduit having a longitudinal axis and being connected to the bowl portion with the axis aligned substantially tangentially with respect to a circular segment of the circular bowl to thereby provide a swirling of the fluid from the secondary inlet within the circular bowl through said trap.

2. In a floor drain as defined in claim 1, and'further wherein said secondary inlet conduit has a lower fluid level higher than the lower fluid level of the main drain conduit.

3. In a floor drain as defined in claim 2, and further wherein'said secondary inlet conduit is integral. with the bowl portion.

4. In a floor drain as defined in claim 3, and further wherein said secondary inlet conduit has a longitudinal axis upon entering the bowl portion which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the main drain conduit; 

1. In a floor drain having a circular bowl portion, a strainer plate covering the bowl portion, a U-shaped trap conduit positioned below the bowl portion and fluidly connected at one end to the bowl portion at the extreme bottom of the bowl portion, and a main drain conduit connected to and leading from the other end of said U-shaped trap conduit, an improvement comprising a secondary inlet conduit connected to the bowl portion intermediate the top and bottom surfaces of the bowl portion, said secondary inlet conduit having a longitudinal axis and being connected to the bowl portion with the axis aligned substantially tangentially with respect to a circular segment of the circular bowl to thereby provide a swirling of the fluid from the secondary inlet within the circular bowl through said trap.
 2. In a floor drain as defined in claim 1, and further wherein said secondary inlet conduit has a lower fluid level higher than the lower fluid level of the main drain conduit.
 3. In a floor drain as defined in claim 2, and further wherein said secondary inlet conduit is integral with the bowl portion.
 4. In a floor drain as defined in claim 3, and further wherein said secondary inlet conduit has a longitudinal axis upon entering the bowl portion which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the main drain conduit. 